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Help For A Friend Please

Hi Ladies,

A dear friend of mine is having some problems with oversupply. Her DD is having green, VERY loose poops and cries whenever she is nursing. Her pediatrician determined that her DD has reflux and she has been on medication for it ever since (this has been for at least a month and a half). She's still very upset while nursing, though. I guess she's not as fussy at night.

My friend was able to pump 8-12 ounces in 5 minutes (after nursing her DD on one side) and thought this was a good thing...well, she's decided it's not and contacted a lactation consultant, who advised her to block-feed. She has been feeding her DD on the same side for 2 feedings in a row, and then switches to the other side for 2 feedings in a row.

My friend is pumping to build up a frozen stash for when she goes back to work and has been stopping at 6 ounces, in order to try to reduce her supply.

I think those are all the details. She's been doing this for about a week and a half and is not seeing any change. Any advice for her? Does she need to just give it more time? I've never had this issue, so I couldn't tell her anything the lactation consultant didn't.

Re: Help For A Friend Please

Block feeding takes time to work. It took me about 3 months to tame my oversupply.

6 oz is a lot to pump. How often is she pumping? Even though she's pumping less than she was previously, that is still a huge amount of milk and she could be short-circuiting her block feeding work by using the pump to perpetuate the oversupply.

Re: Help For A Friend Please

The greenish stool makes me think of too much foremilk, and yes, blockfeeding will help, but it takes more than just a couple weeks to fix it. And it may take longer blocks than what's she's doing to reduce the oversupply and resulting foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. She might want to consider the block feeding in terms of hours versus feedings...you know how some babies will nurse every hour. She may need more than a couple hours for a block to reduce her supply to a more manageable level (I totally understand...I tend to have an OS too). With my first baby, it took me about 6 months or more for the OS to go away. It was faster and faster with each nursling (this one, the one I EP for, has been totally different, due to the pumping exclusively).

Meanwhile, the pumping is a problem. She's perpetuating the OS by removing milk. While I understand wanting to have a freezer stash, with a supply like that...she won't need much of one. She'll be able to pump enough for the next day. But pumping now is probably totally defeating the purpose of block feeding.

She shouldn't need more than maybe a couple day's worth in the freezer. She can use some for the first day and pump at work to provide for the next. If she's a little short, like at the beginning while she settles into a pumping routine at work, she can pump a bit in the morning before work, or on the way to work in the car while driving. Then what she pumps on Friday can be Monday's milk. (she should also check for lipase)

She might have an overactive letdown. OS and OALD often go hand in hand (not always though). She should check for that, as an OALD can look like reflux and make baby fussy..and an OALD is usually not as crazy in the evening, which would account for baby not being as crabby at night about feeding.

Re: Help For A Friend Please

imo, tell your friend not to worry about stock piling a freezer full of milk for now. Her LO will nurse happier if he is able to gain some control over her flow.
Many moms wait until 2 weeks before returning to work to start storing up milk. That way her milk will be age appropriate.

Re: Help For A Friend Please

To be honest I would scale back the pumping to nothing. In all reality you only need one day's worth of milk before you go back to work. She has way more than that. Fresh milk is healthier than frozen and it is no like she has low supply. I think there is way too much pumping going on in this world.

When I was block feeding I did it in hourly blocks I started at two hours per side and ended up at 3.5 hrs per side. And I didn't have bad oversupply, just a little.

proud but exhausted working mammy to two high needs babies

my surprise baby: the one and only D-Man born 3 weeks late (5/5/08) at 9 lbs 14 oz and 21.5 inches, and

the shock H-Girl born about a week late (10/7/09) at 8lbs 15oz and 20.75 inches.

If I am here I am covered in baby (probably two) and fighting for control of the keyboard.

Family beds are awesome

Wondering if you have PPD? Take the screening and see your doctor. You deserve to feel better.

Re: Help For A Friend Please

We've talked about this over in some of the pumping threads, but I think it bears reiterating: the freezer stash is one of those things, you know, I can't think of an example, but one of those things that everybody does because everybody tells everyone else they did it, so it keeps getting done?

Really what you should do is 2-3 weeks before going back to work, unpack your pump and practice w/ it once a day until you get used to it (so it won't take you five years to pump on your first day back and stress you out). Once you've gotten the hang of it, stop pumping until you go back to work. Then if you realize you don't pump enough each day, you can add those extra sessions as Susan was describing (in the car, evenings, weekends, whatever).

I actually think stopping the pump is probably going to help more than increasing her blocks.

Re: Help For A Friend Please

Quick update: my friend stopped pumping like you all suggested and she texted me to tell me that her DD's poops are now leaning towards yellow! She is very hopeful and this is a great sign! Thank you all again!